


Baby's First 4/13

by empty_battlefield



Category: Homestuck
Genre: I'm Bad At Tagging, Not A Fanfiction, Sorry guys, This Is STUPID, but this is what it's like to be an entirely archival reader, short essay, so yep, this is me talking about 4/13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10617885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empty_battlefield/pseuds/empty_battlefield
Summary: Ever wonder what it's like to be an entirely archival reader of Homestuck? Well, if this isn't your first 4/13, you've come to the right place. Here is my speech. It is on the internet for all to see. Enjoy.





	

Hey everyone!

So I was reading through this post on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/homestuck/comments/653102/where_my_first_413_as_a_homestuck_squad_at/) from someone who is asking how many people are celebrating their first 4/13 today.

I'm one of them! I read my first page around August 26th of 2016. 

But for many longtime homestuck readers, for whom this is their seventh or even eighth 4/13--they have no concept of what it's like to be a completely archival reader. What it's like for all us young'uns.

It's amazing, but there are so many babies. I can't believe it, but I'm part of a generation of archival readers. The experience is different from what oldie readers have known.

Not bad. Just different. So let me detail what it's like.

I am a completely archival reader. Needless to say, I have never had to wait for an update in my entire life. The most I've experienced is waiting for Hiveswap so that I can check it out. I can’t imagine having to wait before reading the next upd8, or being left on a cliffhanger. (Except for the whole epilogue which doesn’t exist, I mean cmon, vriska's character arc, where does it end??)I have kept a tab to mspaintadventures perpetually left open, like a bookmark. I know what it's like to read it everywhere--on the bus, waiting for the microwave to beep, even walking between classes (although I wouldn't recommend it). 

Some things are sad about it. Some people say they have to try to avoid tumblr posts to avoid spoilers. I have learned to check the dates on any post I read, and prepare to be disappointed when what I'm seeing is a lively conversation frozen from 2013. 

Yeah, I used to regret that I wasn't there when homestuck was crazy popular. That I wasn't there when all the action and excitement and upd8s were viral with life. I used to think that I was part of a completely dead fandom. I used to think homestuck was like an empty battlefield, because everyone was dead and everything was dead and something happened but I wasn't there when it happened and I was only there after everything fell to pieces. I mean, that's why I named my account that--hell, that's why I made an account in the first place.

One year ago, before I even knew what homestuck was, an era had already ended.

And I'm not going to pretend like I'll ever know what that era was like. It was a great one. And I, like many others, are part of a different one. 

Not bad, just different.

It might actually be a good thing, though. I don't know if homestuck will ever again be as popular as it was in its peak, but I think many people would be more inclined to read it if they didn’t have to wait. We might actually be on the verge of a generation of people who arent perpetually frustrated with Hussie. (Nevermind. I take that back. Being frustrated with Hussie is a universal constant. Even us newbies know that.)

Well, anyway--I'll be looking forward to what happens in the year to come. This 4/13 has been great. I hope that I get to have this experience again. I mean, I think homestuck has impacted a lot of people in some unique, important way. So I think that even if homestuck cosplayers stop showing up to cons in hordes, if tags like "homestuck" or "4/13" never become number one on tumblr ever again, if mspaintadventures becomes frozen in the internet archive--4/13 can still be that day of the year that you remember whatever ways homestuck made you a better person.

So anyways.

Merry homestuck. 

[](http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/emptybattlefield/media/IMG_4977_zps4g6qmrhz.png.html)

[](http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/emptybattlefield/media/IMG_4976_zpsap8wre4u.png.html)


End file.
